Electric timepiece

ABSTRACT

A FRAME OF AN ELECTRIC TIMEPIECE CHARACERIZED BY A PAIR OF BASE PLATES REMOVABLY SECURED TO EACH OTHER, ONE MOUNTING THE DRIVING AND REGULATING DEVICES AND THE OTHER MOUNTING THE HOUR INDICATING ELEMENT AND GEARING THEREOF, WITH AN INTERMEDIARY ROTATABLE ELEMENT INSURING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE GEARING AND THE DRIVING AND REGULATING DEVICES AND BEING ROTATABLY MOUNTED BY ONE OF ITS ENDS IN ONE BASE PLATE AND BY ITS OTHER END IN THE OTHER BASE PLATE.

R. BESSON ELECTRIC TIMEPIECE Nov. 2, 1971 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 27, 1970 INVENTOR.

R. BESSON 3,616,3

ELECTRIC TIMEPIECE 3 sheets sheet 73 Nov. 2, 1971 Filed Feb. 27, 1970 R MQI 22 I/% Bunk .w

R a k m Q @m w 8 mm R. BESSON ELECTRIC TIMEPIECE Nov. 2, 1971 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 27, 1970 FIG. 3

INV'ENTOR.

Rene BESSO/Y 15mm @734 9 I Cfwsfiuuf 4 10/1/02 BY I United States Patent 3,616,637 ELECTRIC TIMEPIECE Rene Besson, Neuchatel, Switzerland, assignor to Ebauches S.A. Filed Feb. 27, 1970, Ser. No. 15,062 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Mar. 17, 1969, 3,924/ 69 Int. Cl. G04c 3/00 US. Cl. 5823 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A frame of an electrical timepiece characterized by a pair of base plates removably secured to each other, one mounting the driving and regulating devices and the other mounting the hour indicating element and gearing therefor, with an intermediary rotatable element insuring the connection between the gearing and the driving and regulating devices and being rotatably mounted by one of its ends in one base plate and by its other end in the other base plate.

The present invention relates to an electric timepiece. This electric timepiece is characterized by the fact that its frame comprises two different base plates removably secured to each other, the first one of which carries the driving and the regulating devices of the movement, which comprise mechanical elements carried on the one hand by the said first base plate and, on the other hand, by at least one bridge carried thereby, and an electronic sustaining circuit of the oscillations of the regulator, which constitutes at least one block removably secured to the first base plate, and the second base plate of which carries the hour indicating elements of the timepiece as well as the gearing which drives these indicating elements, the elements of which are rotatably mounted between the said second base plate and at least one bridge carried thereby, the whole being organized in such a way that the two portions of the movement constituted each by one of the said base plates and by the elements carried thereby can be mounted and tested separately, assembling thereof being effected subsequently, if desired.

The drawing shows, by way of example, one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a plan View, from above, of the movement of an electric wrist-watch.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along line IIII of FIG. 1, at an enlarged scale.

FIG. 3 is a plan view, from below, of a portion of the movement separated from the rest thereof, according to a broken plan, the shape of which is indicated by the line III-III of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a detail, along line IV-IV of FIG. 1, at an enlarged scale, and,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a detail, also at an enlarged scale.

The watch movement represented comprises a base plate 1 (FIGS. 1 and 2) carrying the conventional mechanical elements of the movement especially the gearing which, on the other side, is carried by a gearing bridge 2, visible at FIG. 2 only, secured to the base plate by screws 3 provided with conical bearing surfaces.

The frame of the movement comprises a second base plate, designated by 4, removably secured to the base plate 1, on the upper face thereof, above the gearing bridge '2, and which is held in place by means of securing screws 5 (FIG. 1).

This base plate 4, the shape of which has been represented by a reinforced line in FIG. 1, to help increase the clearness of the drawing, is represented as being viewed from below in FIG. 3. It carries the entirety of the drivice ing and regulating devices, that is to say the mechanical and electrical portions of the movement of the watch.

This driving-regulating device comprises a flexible symmetrical resonator 6, secured to the base plate 4 by means of screws 7, the flexible arms 6a of which carry, at their free end, the movable elements 8 of a transductor, the fixed elements of which are constituted by two driving windings 9. The flexible arms 6a of the resonator 6 carry at their free ends, and secured by pins 10, rigid arms 11 ending in enlarged portions 11a, as balanced weights, and which themselves carry balancing masses 12. These latter, which have the shape of three arm stars, are asymmetric since one of their arms is provided with a notch 13. Thus, by rotating these masses, one modifies the position of the center of gravity of each of these two symmetric portions of the resonator, thus permitting adjustment of its frequency. The two enlarged portions 11a of the rigid arms 11 are each provided with a graduation 14 (FIG. 1), thus permitting control of the position of the masses 12 and facilitating the setting operations.

The sustaining of the oscillations of the resonator 6 is efiected electrically by means of a transistorized electronic circuit fed by an electric battery 15 (FIG. 1) located in an arc shaped recess 16 provided in the base plate 4 and in a circular recess 17 provided in the base plate 1. These two recesses are coaxial, when the two base plates are assembled to each other, thus providing a circular partition intended to receive the battery 15 which occupies, substantially, the whole height of the movement.

The battery is maintained in place by two straps which also insure the electric connection of the battery with the electronic circuit; these two straps are constituted by elastic blades, one of which, designated by 18, is secured to the base plate 1 by a screw 19, and the other of which, designated by 20, is secured to the base plate 4 by means hereafter disclosed. The strap 18 insures the connection of the positive terminal of the battery 15 with the mass of the movement and the strap 20 insures the connection of the negative terminal of the battery with one of the terminals of the electronic circuit.

The electronic sustaining circuit of the oscillations of thte resonator comprises two different electronic blocks, each comprising a small plate 21, respectively 22, secured to the base plate 4, under the latter, by means of screws 23. These small plates have been reinforced in FIG. 3 to help increase the clearness of the drawing.

Each of the electronic blocks comprises one of the two driving windings 9 and a portion of the electronic components of the circuit; one of the blocks also comprises a pick-up winding combined with one of the two windings 9. The two electronic blocks, the small plates 21 and 22 of which are made of insulating material, are constituted by circuits which are realized, according to a technique known per se, by cutting a conductive metallic sheet so as to constitute a gate, by embedding this gate into the insulating material of the small plates, as a moulding operation, then by cutting the edges of the gate so as to separate one from the others the constituting elements of the circuit; the electronic components are welded to the gate after the moulding and the cutting of the edges thereof.

FIG. 3 shows, by way of example, three metallic tongues 24 which constitute the terminals of three constitutive elements of the circuit, protruding laterally on the edge of the small plate 21, and a metallic tongue 25 constituting also a connecting terminal of the circuit, protruding laterally on the edge of the small plate 22.

The strap 20 maintaining in place the battery 15 and insuring the electric connection of the negative terminal of the battery, is riveted at '26 (FIGS. 1 and 3) to the small plate 21 and is welded at one of the elements of the gate constituting the circuit.

So far as the connection of the circuit with the positive terminal of the battery is concerned, which positive terminal as it has been stated hereabove is the mass, it is insured by a pin 27 (FIGS. 1 and 3) carried by the above mentioned metallic tongue 25, with which is normally in contact an elastic blade 28 carried by the base plate 4. This blade passes in a notch provided in a bent portion 29a of a lever 29 mounted on the base plate 4 and guided in its displacements, according to the arrows 30 of FIGS. 1 and 3, by two pins 31 carried by the base plate 4 and which pass through elongated openings 32 of this lever.

This latter is provided with a fork shaped portion between the arms 29b of which is engaged a pin 33 (FIG. 1) carried by the setting-lever of the movement, not being represented. When the setting pin, designated by 34 (FIG. 1), is moved longitudinally, the pin 33 moves along the direction of arrow 35, thus producing the displacements of the lever 29 in the direction of the arrow 30, the return of the lever in the reverse direction being insured by the elastic blade 28, serving as a return spring.

The arrangement is such that, when the setting stern occupies at rest position, in which it is entirely pushed (position represented in the drawing), the blade 23 is in contact with the pin 27, closing the electric sustaining circuit of the oscillations of the resonator; it is the same when the setting stem 34 occupies its intermediary position of date setting of a date indicating element, not represented, owing to the play of the pin 33 between the arms 29b of the fork of the lever 29, while, when the stem 34 is entirely pulled, in a setting position, the lever 29 is displaced towards the center of the movement, against the resilient action of the blade '28, that separates this blade from the pin 27 and thus interrupts the feeding of the sustaining circuit.

The counting of the oscillations of the resonator 6 is effected by means of a ratchet wheel 36 provided with a very fine toothing, rotating between the base plate 4 and a small plate 37 (FIG. 3) secured under the base plate 4 by two screws 38; the shape of this small plate has been reinforced in FIG. 3 to help increase the clearness of the drawing.

A pawl 39, secured at 40 on one of the portions 11a of the resonator 6, acts on the wheel 36 for rotating it by one tooth at each oscillation of the resonator. The other portion 11a of the resonator carries a pin 41 insuring the balancing of the pin 40.

A second pawl, i.e. a retaining pawl, designated by 42, acts on the wheel 36. This second pawl is carried by a small plate 43 submitted to the action of a screw 44, screwed in a stud carried by the base plate 4, this screw acting laterally on the small plate for maintaining it ap plied, by a circular notch thereof, against a pin 45, constituting a journal, carried by the base plate 4, and for maintaining an elastic arm 43a of the small plate applied against a pin 46 carried by the base plate 4.

The small plate 43 is prevented from being lifted on the one hand by a head 45a provided on the pin 45a and on the other hand by a head 47a provided on a second pin, designated by 47, of smaller sectional section than the pin 45, engaged with play into an opening 48 having the shape of a button-hole, provided in the small plate. The portion of greater diameter of the button-hole 48 permits the head 47a of pin 47 to pass through in view of the mounting and dismounting of the small plate.

The arrangement as disclosed permits modification of, by means of the screw 44, the position of the retaining pawl 42, and adjustment thereby, with high precision, of the relative position of the two pawls, the driving pawl 39 and the retaining pawl 42, that is to say their dephasing.

Owing to the type of mounting of the small plate 43, no articulating play is produced, the small plate being permanently bearing against pin 45 under the efiect of its elastic arm 43a and of the screw 44.

The radial pressure exerted by the two pawls 39 and 4- 42 on the counting wheel 36 has also to be adjusted very precisely.

To this effect, the movement is provided with a calibrated gauge 49 (FIGS. 4 and 5) located, when it is not used, in a circular partition 50 provided in the base plate 4, closed by the base plate 1 when the movement is mounted.

The adjustment of the pressure of the pawls on the counting wheel is effected when the base plate 4 is separated from the base plate 1. The gauge 49 is then accessible and can be withdrawn from the partition 50 for being engaged into the bore, designated by 51, of the base plate 4 containing the upper bearing, designated by 52, of the counting wheel 36, after this wheel has been removed (FIG. 5). The height of the bore 51 is sufiieient for permitting the engagement of an extension 49a of the gauge into this bore, below the bearing 52. The extension 49a is annular, having the shape of a collar, so as to be slightly resilient and thereby to be able to engage frictionally into the bore 51.

The adjustment of pwls 39 and 42 is effected so that they are just in contact with the gauge, without exerting thereon any pressure. Since the diameter of the gauge is slightly lower than the one of wheel 36, when counting wheel 36 is substituted for the gauge, the pawls are submitted to a desirable slight tension.

The gauge 49, in reserve in the partition 50, is thus always at the disposal of the repairers. This gauge is provided, besides the collar 49a by means of which it is engaged either into the bore 51 of the base plate 4 or into a circular recess 53, of same diameter as the bore 51, provided in the bottom of the partition 50, with a central button 49b, situated on the opposite face to the one provided with the collar 49a, which permits to catch it by means of tweezers, for manipulating it.

The transmission of the intermittent rotative movements, step by step, of the ratchet wheel 36 to the indicating elements of the watch, i.e. to the hands 54, 55 and 56, respectively of hours, minutes and seconds, is insured by a pinion 57 rigid with the wheel 36 (FIG. 2) meshing with a wheel 58 rigid with a pinion 59 engaged, with a very slight play, into a bearing 60 carried by the small plate 37; the lower spindle of the element 58-59 is carried, when the movement is mounted, by a bearing 61 itself mounted on the base plate 1.

The pinion 59 meshes with a wheel 62 axially pressed, by an arched elastic washer 63, against a pinion 64 mounted on seconds shaft, at the center of the movement, designated by 65.

The friction coupling constituted by the elastic washer 63 and the elements which are associated thereto ensures the protection of the counting ratchet mechanism 39-36 which could be deteriorated if a reverse direction effort is applied to the counting wheel 36, for example when the seconds hand is put into place.

Wire spring 66 acts on a pulley 67 mounted on the shaft and acts as a brake of the seconds hand.

The pinion 64 drives a wheel 68 axially pressed by an arched elastic washer 69 against a disk 70 rigid with a pinion 71 rotatably mounted between the base plate 1 and the gearing bridge 2.

The friction coupling constituted by the elastic washer 69 and the elements which are associated thereto operates like the indenting of a conventional watch and permits the setting of the watch without exerting any action on the regulating elements.

The pinion 71 meshes with the minutes wheel, designated by 72, rotatably mounted on a sleeve 73 carried by the base plate 1 and which controls, by the intermediary of the conventional dial-train, not represented, the hour wheel designated by 74.

As a matter of fact, this arrangement, especially flexible, permits to mount each module separately and to test it before they are assembled, which is that much more useful that these two modules belong to two different fields of the technique, one belonging to the conventional watchmaking, and the other one to the electronic,

For instance, any alteration of the counting ratchet device is thereby prevented, which could occur in spite of the friction coupling of the spring 63, when the hands of the watch are put in place or during accidental grazings during the mounting operations.

One can even put the conventional portion into the casing of the watch, i.e. the base plate 1, provided with the gearing bridge 2 and all the mechanical elements carried thereby, before the driving regulating module be assembled thereto, which is constituted by the base plate 4 and all the mechanical and electric elements carried thereby.

This arrangement permits moreover to the repairer to open the watch, to withdraw the battery therefrom, to withdraw the module of the base plate 4 and to handle it per se, for instance for changing one or the other of the electronic blocks, without touching to the resonator 6 and without having to make again any setting of the counting ratchet device 3946.

It is to be noted that the tests of the driving regulating portion are effected when this portion is not assembled to the module of the base plate 1, that can be carried out owing to the fact that the gearing 60, traversed by the pinion 59, holds provisionally this latter in place when the module of the base plate 4 is separated from the module of the base plate 1. That permits, while connecting the two terminals of the electronic circuit to a source of current, to operate the driving-regulating group, that is to say the resonator 6 and the counting mechanism, independently from the rest of the movement.

What I claim is:

1. In an electric timepiece, characterized by the fact that its frame comprises two different base plates removably secured to each other, the first base plate carrying the driving and regulating devices of the movement, which comprise mechanical elements carried on the one hand by the first base plate and on the other hand by at least a bridge carried by the first base plate, and an electronic sustaining circuit of the oscillations of the regulator which constitutes at least one block removably secured to the first base plate, and the second base plate carrying the hour indicating elements as well as the gearing insuring their driving, the elements of which are rotatably mounted between the second base plate and at least a bridge carried thereby, with the whole being such that the two portions of the movement constituted each by one of the base plates and by the element carried thereby can be mounted and tested separately, the improvement consisting of, an intermediary rotatable element insuring the connection between the gearing and the driving and regulating devices and being rotatably mounted by one of its ends in the first base plate and by its other end in the second base plate, an annular portion of said second base plate, said annular portion being traversed by said intermediary element, with the base plates being separa' ble for the operation of the driving and regulating devices without connection to the gearing carried by the second base plate and with the intermediary element remaining rotatably mounted by one of its ends on the second base plate and being sustained as it passes through.

2. Electric timepiece as claimed in claim 1, the driving and regulating devices of which are constituted by a flexure blade resonator driving in a step by step manner by the intermediary of a pawl, a counting ratchet wheel, the counting ratchet wheel being rigid with a pinion meshing with the wheel of the said intermediary element such that when the two base plates of the frame of the movement are disassembled, said intermediary element is carried by said second plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,277,643 10/ 1966 Favre 5823 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,399,394 4/1965 France 58-23 BA RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner E. C. SIMMONS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 58-53 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,616,637 Dated Nov. 2, 1971 Inventor s Rene Besson It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the heading to the drawings, Sheets 1, 2 and 3, line 1, "3,616,837", each occurrence, should read 3,616,637

Signed and sealed this 18th day of April 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

ROBERT GOTTSCHALK EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer USCOMM-DC BO376-P59 )RM FO-105O (10-69) 0 u s GDVEWNMENT PRINTING owrc: 969 0-36633l 

